Medical, faith community unite for Emmanuel’s Garden

The groundbreaking of Emmanuel’s Garden took place on Wednesday, Aug. 8 at Westminster Memorial Gardens. From left are Tracie Delally, Director of Women’s Services at Piedmont Fayette, Chaplain Kim Holman, Dr. Jim Thomas, C.J. Mowell, April Mowell, David Mowell and Lori Graddy, manager of WCS Properties, Inc.

Special to Fayette Newspapers

Families who have experienced the difficult loss of a pregnancy in the course of a normal gestation period often find there is no place for a family to process this loss, to grieve, and to heal. Piedmont Fayette Hospital, Carl J. Mowell & Son Funeral Homes and WCS Properties, Inc. recently came together to create a space that addresses this need.

Emmanuel’s Garden, which will be located at Westminster Memorial Gardens in Peachtree City, will give grieving families that choose cremation a final resting place for their lost children.

“The name Emmanuel means ‘God with us,’” said April Mowell of WCS Properties, Inc. “We wanted to provide a sacred space for families to come and remember those they have lost.”

Piedmont Fayette approached Mowell & Son Funeral Homes with this need. The hospital delivers more than 2,500 babies each year, but they also see their share of heartbreak with unsuccessful pregnancies. They knew that many times families had no place to go to process their grief. They believed that there was a need to create a place for them.

Kim Holman, a chaplain at Piedmont Fayette, leads an annual infant memorial service at the hospital. She sees many families return each year to remember the sons and daughters that were lost and knows the value of providing a space like this.

“Emmanuel’s Garden will let people know that they are not alone, that many others understand what they are feeling, and that there is a community of support behind them,” said Holman. “A sacred space like this will let them know that God is with them as well. Piedmont Fayette is very grateful for the Mowell family’s vision and passion for this project. They know the positive difference that this will make in the lives of many people in the community.”

Members of the Piedmont Fayette staff joined representatives from Mowell & Son Funeral Homes and WCS Properties at the site of Emmanuel’s Garden for a groundbreaking ceremony. Dr. Jim Thomas, the senior pastor of Fayetteville First Baptist Church, and Holman, blessed the space and prayed with those in attendance. Construction and landscaping of Emmanuel’s Garden is expected to begin soon.